SerpApi.Org
Donald Trump has been criticised for the "flippant" way he responded to the deaths of three US service members who died in the ongoing war with Iran. Two members of the American military died in strikes on a base in Jordan on Friday, and another was killed in northern Iraq on Saturday, US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said at the weekend.
The service member who died in Iraq was killed during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone, while another was injured, the Department of Defense branch said. It also announced remains of another person had been found at the base in Jordan following Friday's strike, and work to identify them was under way.
This takes the US military death toll since the conflict began in February to 17. Between 1,800 and 7,650 members of the Iranian military have been killed, while it is is estimated between 1,781 and 3,759 civilians have lost their lives. It comes after Trump was forced into a humiliating reply when pressed on why the Iran war has taken so long.
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President Trump was asked about the latest casualties as he landed back in Washington following the World Cup Final on Sunday. Speaking on the runway, he said: "Well, we feel very badly, but, you know, those great people, those great patriots, are out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
"And Iran has been very, very badly damaged. They've lost everything, almost, militarily. They've got very little left.
"They've got some missiles, they've got some drones, they've got some manufacturing ability, not much. We control the Strait (of Hormuz). They don't control anything.
"So we'll see what happens. But we hit them very hard again tonight."
People were appalled by the President's attitude to the most recent deaths, with one person writing on X, formerly Twitter: "Flippantly discussing the death of US servicemembers in his war of choice. Disgusting."
Another said: "This is an insult to our US service men and women. Continuing the lie that this war is about Iran not having a nuclear weapon when they were not a threat is disgusting from Trump. Trump is getting US soldiers killed for no good reason."
Someone else wrote: "Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon. If they did, they couldn’t hit US with it. They haven’t started a war with anybody for decades. Those young men died for NOTHING."
Another said: "He minimized those deaths completely. He has no soul. He is evil and vile."
And a different user wrote: "American service members are in harms way because of Trump and his need to appease Netanyahu. He now has no [idea] how to end the war that he started and unfortunately has surrounded himself with incompetent cheerleaders."
The US launched further strikes against Iran over the weekend, CENTCOM said. In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the department said: "U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) successfully completed the ninth consecutive evening of strikes against Iran, July 19, at 10pm ET.
"CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran's ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
"The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief's direction. CENTCOM forces remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready."
